Anything to do with the fact that Mercury and Venus are sort of 'east' so we rotate away from them, and the others 'west' making us rotate towards them? Cannot quite get the picture right in my mind so cannot explain what I mean properly.....

Smiling is contagious. Start an epidemic today!

Have you read the entrance permit? Do you KNOW the Conditions of Entry?

No. Remember that all planets travel along their orbits about the Sun at varying speeds. Therefore, at various times, Mercury could be to one side of Earth, and a few months later on another side; or, as Earth passes Jupiter, the planets would be changing positions in Space. Both the inner and outer planets are changing relative to Earth in their orbits, yet we still see the inner ones rising higher or sinking lower over one night to the next, to reach a maximum or minimum height above the horizon, whereupon they disappear from sight for a time before repeating the process. Despite the outer planets also shifting relative to Earth over time, they do not follow this up-and-down rising and setting behaviour, but arc over months or years through the background of stars. Also, consider that Earth is always spinning from her west to her east, so one cannot really see the inner planets to east or west, and the outer planets differently. I know what you're driving at, EJ, and it is certainly creative; but unfortunately not correct.

To solve my question, I want you all to think of how Earth is positioned in the Solar System, relative to the Sun and the other planets. Then imagine how that viewpoint of a planet will change over time.

I want everyone ultimately to, when they look up at the stars, realise how magnificent everything is and what is actually happening.

Venus orbits closer to the sun than Earth, so it sometimes passes between the Earth and the sun or orbits behind the sun. At this time it is lost from Earth's view. (unless you have a filtered telescope you would then probably see it as a black dot moving across the Sun). As it orbits, Venus is brightest at it's elongations, when it is farthest from the Sun in the sky. At these times the Planet is visible either after sunset of before sunrise depending on it's orbital positioning at the time.

Planets beyond Earth ie. Mars, is one and a half times more distant from the Sun than Earth, thus making it visible throughout the night as there is no Sun to obstruct it from Earth's view. It's position changing a few degrees each night as it continues on it's own orbit across the sky.

This is why the inner planets are only visible for a few hours each night and the outer planets are visible throughout the night.

He is rich or poor according to what he is, not according to what he has. ~Henry Ward Beecher

The simple answer to the question is that Mercury and Venus, the inner planets, revolve close to the Sun and so, as seen from Earth, they only really become visible when on either side of the Sun; hence they appear close in time to dawn and dusk, and cannot be seen all night long. On the other hand, the outer planets - Mars through to Neptune - move much further out in their orbits from the Sun, and so at certain times can be seen for lengthy periods throughout the night, and sometimes even the entire night, against the background of stars.

For you, EJ, I'm willing to restart things here. In the past, I sometimes didn't know if I was being too detailed or if my questions were too difficult, and so whether people were learning enough from this thread. At one stage, I did have a small, but enthusiastic, contingent, with whom we made rapid progress; that was because I had regular feedback of what they wanted to learn and whether I was meeting those needs. The only way I will know how things are going here is if I again get feedback from participants. And, please, ANYONE who would like to know more about the stars and planets, DO participate and, occasionally, drop me a personal message to let me know how things are going.

Did anyone see the close triangular arrangement between the crescent Moon, Mercury, and Venus, last night, soon after sunset?I went out diligently but, in the hazy pollution of Jo'burg, only Venus and the Moon could be seen.

Hope you saw enough "stars" at ground level to compensate, EJ? I should have posted the upcoming arrangement sooner, but I will be more diligent in future and inform mites timeously on this thread what interesting sky gems can be seen.